Firefox keeps updating without permission
Ever since i have updated to Firefox 27 on my own will i get updates without permission. In the settings i switched to "never check for updates" and i have never used any tools like "Tune Up Utility" or stuff like that, that could cause a mess in my registry.
So why for gods sake does Firefox update itself? I got v28 without permission, i got v29 without permission and today i got v30 without permission. For a second i saw a little window in my task that there was an update downloaded, but i didnt have the chance to say "no thanks i dont want it"... It just closed itself and next time i started Firefox this update got installed - again without the chance to say "no i dont want it"...
What the hell is going on here? Seriously i know that updates come to fix problems and security issues... But this is my computer and i want to decide on my own wether or not i wanna install things/update/upgrade it and i know im not the only one with this problem. So how do i get rid of this behavior or do i really have to switch to another browser just to get control over my computer back?
- is frustrated*
Chosen solution
I think i finaly found the reason for this behavior.
When i checked the "about firefox" today i found a sentence saying something like "another instance is keeping firefox from being updated" and i started to google. Another profile was supposed to be the reason for this so i started firefox.exe -p and checked the other two profiles listed there.
One profile belongs to Kaspersky Safe Browser and in this profile automatic updates were activated. Disabled these settings and now only time will tell if firefox will update again but i have a good feeling it wont happen anymore :)
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See this - What is the Mozilla Maintenance Service? Windows OS only.
Mozilla Maintenance Service was disabled (see the picture - its german, sorry)
I did not touch these settings since i updated to 27. They have been like this all the time and still i get automaticly updated :(
There was a bug that is Fixed in Firefox 29, and so effective when updating to Fx30; otherwise recent versions initiate an upgrade regardless of your setting when you use (New Button ) -> Help -> about Firefox.
- Bug 600500 - About Dialog should check for updates automatically, but not install them if the pref "Ask me what I want to do" is set
- Note it is possible to prevent the update taking place if you delete files before restarting see the old article
Updates reported when running newest version_delete-update-configuration-files
I tend not to use Windows but does the Mozilla Maintenance Service only affect limited accounts and not Admin accounts ?
If you are using an Admin account your account has permission to update.
Hmm... do i get this right:
Since i am using an admin account Firefox will update even if i check the box to never search for updates? Well that would explain this behavior but it just doesnt make sense to me. Why give the user (or admin) the choice how to update if these settings will never take effect?
The hint with deleting the downloaded files is a good one. I will keep that in mind. Bad thing is, that i usualy dont get to see this little window that informs about an incoming update cause i leave my computer alone many hours a day. Should i write a batch file to automaticly delete these files every morning i boot my computer? lol
Dont get me wrong guys... I will install updates in the future... I just wanna be sure that things that i need to work will still do after the update thats why i like to read some informations before and pick the time when to install myself.
Sorry if my english is a bit messy this afternoon... Already tired enough to go to sleep :D
The bug referred to is fixed so the settings not being respected is no longer a problem. Your Firefox 30 will not upgrade until you give it permission. (Assuming that is how you set it up) That was only a problem if you happened to use Help -> about Firefox, but of course it may be the sort of thing a user does to check the current version, without expecting an upgrade to then occur.
I tend not to use Windows. My understanding is that the Mozilla Maintenance Services (MMS) is for situations where User Account Control (UAC) permission would otherwise be needed.
Disabling the MMS may be used as a method to prevent upgrades, because they would then fail if UAC permission is required. I also understand Windows OS may have changed between different versions; but I am asking
- Would your Admin account actually require UAC permission to upgrade Firefox ?
- Or would it already have that permission by virtue of being an Admin account
Looking at this
It appears in Windows 7 you would only have the updates proceed if you had the lowest level setting. Never Notify
Chosen Solution
I think i finaly found the reason for this behavior.
When i checked the "about firefox" today i found a sentence saying something like "another instance is keeping firefox from being updated" and i started to google. Another profile was supposed to be the reason for this so i started firefox.exe -p and checked the other two profiles listed there.
One profile belongs to Kaspersky Safe Browser and in this profile automatic updates were activated. Disabled these settings and now only time will tell if firefox will update again but i have a good feeling it wont happen anymore :)
"One profile belongs to Kaspersky Safe Browser and in this profile automatic updates were activated. "
Very interesting that something from Kaspersky created a new Profile for Firefox. Never heard of a security application that did that before. Although there have been one or two special Firefox builds that were created by security application company's, but those installed completely separate from Firefox, AFAIK.
Was that Kaspersky Safe Browser or Safe Browsing? I am able to find information about a Kaspersky Safe Browser for Mobile devices; iOS, Android, and Windows phones, but nothing about desktop OS's. http://support.kaspersky.com/search?query=Safe%20Browser And I got nothing at the Kaspersky website for "Safe Browsing".
I'm curious if a Kaspersky extension for Firefox did that? If so, which one?
It would be nice to know for helping other users down the road who might have a similar problem.
Sorry, that I didn't mention the necessity of additional Profiles needing the update prefs disabled, too. I guess I have "Mozilla Maintenance Service on the brain" since I got caught with an unwanted update a few weeks ago myself. Unless a user mentions having multiple Profiles I don't bring that up, so that I don't unnecessarily confuse basic users who don't know about "Profiles".
Whoops, forget to mention that I marked your posting as the Solution to this thread.
The exact profile name is "SafeBrowser" and i do believe it is part of the save payment from Kaspersky, since clicking on that will open a fresh browser window without any addons and Kaspersky puts a green border around it.
Since i never added that profile and Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 is my protection on this computer im pretty sure that profile belongs to it.
Thank you for verifying that.
I have exactly the same complaint and more! First, it is an intrusion the update without permission just by clicking "about Firefox". It is highly presumptuous of you to do that, and extremely annoying and angering as well.
Now, with that venting out of the way, let me say thank you for at least providing a way to turn that irritating procedure off in Tools>Options>Advanced>Update.
HOWEVER, There still remains an annoyance and time and energy waster.
Now, when Firefox opens, you still must say no to getting the latest update. How can I eliminate this extra keystroke, needed every time i open Firefox (without creating other problems)?